Einstein

Myth: Einstein was an incompetent mathematician who was also responsible for the creation of the nuclear bomb.

Well as most people already know, Einstein (which oddly seems to translate in German to the name “1 Beer Keg”) was a very accomplished mathematician. The myth about him failing at math has been encouraged by television works from the cartoon kids show “Animanics” to Sci Fi Shows like “Star Trek the Next Generation”.

The internet on the other hand, has done a pretty good job dispelling the myth that Einstein couldn’t add and subtract.

However, for some reason, anti war “do gooders” feel the need to blame Einstein for something Oppenheimer and Fermi made (the Nuclear Bomb).

The Truth is:

Einstein had almost nothing to do with the creation of the nuclear bombs Fat Man or Little Boy. He was given a piece of paper to sign that said he endorsed moving forward with the technology because other countries probably already were, but that was pretty much his entire contribution to the nuclear bomb.

Now some people will argue the the nuclear bomb was created by his E = MC2 theory of relativity.

This however, is also wrong.

Although E=MC2 (A “Thing’s“ Energy is Equal to its Mass times a Constant {speed of light) Squared) is an energy conversion ratio that can be used in the calculation of energy dispersion from a potential nuclear explosion or power plant, it is absolutely redonkulous to think that this makes Einstein responsible in anyway for killing 200,000 Japanese people with a nuclear bomb.

As well, the E=MC2 wasn’t even part of his theory of relativity, It was just an after thought (probably so he could sound smarter than other people)

in fact, if he told people in plain language what his theory of special relativity actually meant, most people would have probably thought “Yeah, so what?”

Here’s the theory of special relativity in one sentence:

“The Rules of Physics Apply to All Objects Traveling in a Straight Line at a Constant Speed”

As you can see, special relativity is much easier to understand than than his theory of “General Relativity” which probably requires the use of hallucinogenic drugs to understand fully.

The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on The Tibetan Book of the Dead

Galileo

Myth: Gallileo Dropped Things from the Leaning Tower of Pisa

We’ve all heard the story about how Galileo dropped two balls from the leaning tower of Pisa and how this proved the weight of an object did not affect how quickly it fell to the earth.

Why did he do this?

Was it to dispell the myth that dropping pennies from tall buildings can kill someone by sinking into their skull?

Unfortunately not, that myth is still believed.

The truth is:

This famous experiment never actually happened.

What did happen was that Galileo thought to himself:

“If I throw a ball, it will land on the ground, but since the earth is curved, it will land in a lower and lower spot the farther I throw it. In fact at some point it won’t land at all because the ball will always be falling lower. This means the ball will be traveling due to the force from falling rather than me throwing it. Actually I better duck because its only a matter of time before it goes around the earth and comes back to hit me in the back of the head.”

Okay, this may not be an exact record of Galileo’s train of thought, but its close enough to point out why he began his experiments with gravity.

The Ball experiment was not done from the leaning tower of Pisa but actually accomplished using 20 foot planks with a straight smoothed out groove in the center.

By rolling different balls down a plank from various heights, he was able to discover that the length the ball rolled was directly proportional to the square of the time taken. This was contrary to Aristotle’s view that would have predicted the velocity to be constant.

Edison

photo thanks to Wikipedia

Myth: Edison was a genius inventor

We at Daft Gadgets share a collective view that this was not a myth, and that Edison was a genius inventor who made the biggest invention in history.

However, what he actually invented remains up for debate.

When Edison wasn’t electrocuting cats in bath tubs to prove that DC current from Westinghouse was safer the Tesla’s AC current, Edison was known for inventing things.

His greatest known invention was probably the electric light.

Too bad he didn’t actually invent it.

The Truth is:

In 1809 Sir Humphry Davy invented the first electric light which allowed miners to see in the dark that wouldn’t ignite a methane explosion that would kill them them all. This was a pretty big deal back in the day.

So what did Edison invent?

Well, the exact same thing. He took the electric light and replaced it with a filament that would burn longer than 12 hours (days on end). So really, his innovated the electric light.

See, Edison realized that there was no such thing as invention or originality, only creativity. He probably looked at Leibniz and Newton who both “Invented” Infinitesimal Calculus in two separate ways (Newton liked to play with waves and Leibniz liked to play with triangles) and thought to himself:

“Invention is just who gets the credit not how creative you are!”

He would then go on to subconsciously create the greatest invention of them all…..The Patent office.

Controlling the patent meant that the invention credit would all end up in one place, and coincidentally, so would the money.

The Patent office was the most profitable invention in human history.

Don’t believe us? Who got richer for the invention of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, or Elisha Gray?

When Gray applied for a patent for the variable resistance telephone transmitter, the Patent Office determined “while Gray was undoubtedly the first to conceive of and disclose the variable resistance invention, his failure to take any action amounting to completion deprives him of the right to have it considered.”

To be fair, Edison did come up with idea of saying “Ahoy Ahoy” when answering the phone, and we all know that caught on real well.

“There’s a sucker born every minute”David Hannum (in Reference to P.T Barnum’s Customers)

1. The Cardiff Giant

What was the Cardiff Giant?

The Cardiff Giant was one of the most famous hoaxes in the history of the United States. Essentially it was a 10 foot petrified man that was purported to have been unearthed from the soil of the town of Cardiff New York.

Who did it?

The giant was the creation of a New York tobacconist named George Hull.

Why did he create this hoax?

While visiting one of his rock quarries, hull noticed a piece of stone that looked like it had human veins running through it. At this point he thought to himself “I bet if I carved up that stone to look like a human giant I could get the last laugh on those Methodists” (Hull, an atheist, decided to create the giant after an argument at a Methodist revival meeting about the passage in Genesis 6:4 stating that there were giants who once lived on Earth)

Hull then instructed some workers to cut a giant slab from the veined stone, which he later shipped to Chicago where he had hired a stone cutter named Edward Burghardt to carve this biblical giant. (Burghardt was unaware that he was carving a statute for a hoax). Once finished, he had some trusted allies bury the giant underground where it would lay in wait for one year.

Around a year later, some fossils were found nearby, and Hull used this discovery to spring his hoax into action.

Ordering to workers to dig a well where the giant was buried, two laborers made what they thought would be the discovery of a lifetime! Rushing to tell the whole town, word spread fast and eventually had people showing up from all over the country to look at (and pay admission for) the stone giant from biblical times.

Scientists and experts came to the conclusion that it was either a true fossilized human giant or an authentic ancient statue. Nobody, said it was a hoax.

P.T. Barnum, noticed all the commotion and attempted to buy the statue to show in his museum. When the price came back as $50,000 (Hull had sold 2/3rds of the statue to a banker named David Hannum) Barnum decided it was easier to create his own fake statue.

He then declared that Hannum sold him the original and that the one in Cardiff was just a fake. After this news, thousands flocked to Barnum’s exhibit to which David Hannum was quoted as saying “There’s a sucker born every minute” …… (He still believed his statue to be real)

2. The Lying Stones

The Lying Stones

What were the lying stones?

The lying stones were limestone that had been carved into the shapes of lizards, frogs, spiders, and other animals. The stones also had in them the carved name of God in Latin, Arabic, and Hebrew characters.

Who Discovered them?

Professor Johann Bartholomeus Adam Beringer (ca 1667 – 1738) of the faculty of medicine at the university of Wurzburg.

Who Created this Hoax?

Hoaxers by the name of J. Ignatz Roderick (ex Jesuit) and professor of geography and mathematics, and Johann Georg von Eckhart.

Why did they do it?

They didn’t like him. They felt that Beringer was arrogant and needed a “comeuppance”

Essentially, they hid the stones on Mount Eibelstadt (a place where Beringer frequently went to search for fossils.)

The stones included “lizards in their skin, birds with beaks and eyes, spiders with their webs, and frogs copulating.” Other stones lain there bore the Hebrew letters YHVH, for Jehovah, or God.

When Beringer found them He believed them to be natural products of the “plastic power” of the inorganic world.

When critics pointed out that there was evidence of chisel marks, Beringer became convinced that they were the chisel marks of God. In fact nobody could convince him otherwise, not even the hoaxers.

The hoaxers had been putting more and more crazy rocks on the mountain for him to find, at first finding the whole thing amusing. However, the whole hoax started to get out of hand and they tried to convince him that maybe “someone else” was playing a hoax on him.

Beringer decided that they were just trying to discredit his great discovery, and brought them to court to “save his honor”

Unfortunately when he did this, they confessed the whole story. The careers of all three men were ruined.

When asked why they played such a hoax, they replied:

“he was so arrogant and despised us all.”

3. The Tasaday Tribe

What The Heck Was The Tasaday Tribe?

The Tasaday Tribe were a bunch of people forced to pretend that they were an ancient cave dwelling tribe.

Who Created this Hoax?

Manual Elizalde, head of PANAMIN (the Philippine government agency nonstock, nonprofit organization created to protect the interests of Philippine cultural minorities.)

Elizalde had all sorts of press and was able to get a picture of a Tasaday boy climbing vines to appear on the August 1972 edition of National Geographic He also got a National Geographic documentary named “The Last Tribes of Mindanao” created for the Tasaday.

Why Did he put on this Hoax?

Probably To steal money. He cleaned out millions from the Tasaday fund when he fled the country.

The Tasaday people were interviewed later on ABC’s show 20/20 and confessed that they were bribed with cigarettes, clothing, food and more to play along in Elizalde’s game.

4. The Great Moon Hoax

What was the Great Moon Hoax?

The Great Moon Hoax refers to a six article series put out by the New York Sun on August 25, 1835.

The articles went into great detail of crazy “non” mythical animals on the Moon, including bison, goats, unicorns, bipedal tail-less beavers and Batman.

"No one will find my secret Bat-Cave on the moon!"

(Okay they were actually bat-winged humanoids (“Vespertilio-homo”) who built temples on the moon, not bat caves, but close enough.

"I was the first Batman!"

All These discoveries were supposedly made with “an immense telescope of an entirely new principle”.

Of course when someone came to see this telescope, the hoaxers said it was so powerful that the sun turned the telescope into a giant “Burning Glass” that burned down the observatory, all the evidence, and vaporized the telescope.

Who perpetrated this hoax?

Authorship of the article has been attributed to Richard A. Locke, a Cambridge-educated reporter who, in August 1835, was working for the New York Sun.

Why did he do it?

Assuming that Richard A. Locke was the author, his intentions were probably, first, to create a sensational story which would increase sales of the New York Sun, and, second, to ridicule some of the more extravagant astronomical theories that had recently been published.

Its also possible that he took a hallucinogenic drug in the observatory and imagined the whole thing before burning it down himself.

5. War of The Worlds

What was the War of the Worlds Hoax?

The War of the Worlds was an American radio drama directed by Orson Welles, who adapted the H.G. Wells story titled “The War of the Worlds”

Presented as an actual news story, many listeners began to believe that Martians were in fact invading the U.S.A. Some listeners were seen fleeing in panic, thinking they could smell poison gas or see flashes of lightning in the distance.

It was said at the time that 1.7 million people believed the broadcast to be genuine, and out of those 1.2 million were genuinely frightened.

However, these numbers were later said to be inflated by newspaper companies who felt that radio threatened their position as the number one “Press Medium”

Some of you may have heard of “The Legend of The Emerald Tablet” a.k.a. “The Secret of Hermes” and wondered, “Is there any reality to this wizardry?”

The answer is yes.

Now lets be clear. At Daft Gadgets we would like nothing more than to prove that anyone of us can turn into a Jedi Knight or some cooler version of Harry Potter, but that doesn’t mean we distort evidence to prove the existence of mythical beings.

According to “The Secret of Hermes” (based upon Hermes Trismegistus), the emerald tablet revealed the secret of the primordial substance and its transmutations. (Take That Darwin)

The Caduceus, symbol of Hermeticism.

Hermes was said to have been clutching the emerald tablet in his arms in his death bed.

Although this legend is in fact “A legend,” there have been some true wizards through out the ages that you may not have heard of.

The frist being….

1. Roger Bacon aka Doctor Mirabilis

"What came first, the name Bacon, or the food?"

The name “Dr. Mirabilis” is a medieval praise meaning: “Wonderful Teacher.”

This Wonderful teacher was known as an English philosopher and Franciscan friar who studied nature through empirical methods. He is sometimes credited as one of the first European advocates of the modern scientific method that was inspired by early Greek philosophers.

As one of the first real wizards, Roger Bacon:

-invented eyeglasses,

-revealed the role of air in burning, and

-predicted inventions of the future including cars, ships and aircrafts.

His Opus Majus contains treatments of mathematics, optics, alchemy (and the manufacture of gunpowder), the positions and sizes of the celestial bodies and how they could possibly influence the fate of humans.

He was also sent to jail at one point for being a magician or “Wizard” possibly due to his arcane knowledge of alchemy.

2. John Dee 1527-1608

John Dee was a noted English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occultist, navigator, imperialist who devoted much of his life to the study of alchemy, divination and Hermetic philosophy.

Basically…he was a wizard.

To some of his contemporaries, Dee was an “Evil Wizard.”

This may have been due to the fact that he was always trying to speak with angles through their universal language of creation in order to bring the apocalypse.

To be fair, Dee was actually trying to bring the Pre-Apocalyptic unity of human kind with a one world religion. Unfortunately, some saw this as just another step closer to the apocalypse, which was a pretty scary thought for most people, and may have led to his charges of treason and “calculating” in the year 1555.

The Calculating charge was for casting a horoscopes of Queen Mary and Princess Elizabeth and was just the first of many slander cases against the wizard.

Dee was an intensely pious Christian wizard who believed that the nature of the universe was an act of numbering and that mankind had the potential for divine power, if they could unlock the secrets to this number through mathematics.

His goal was to recapture the knowledge of the universe through the pure theology of the ancients and bring forth a unified world.

3. Paracelsus 1493 1541

“Many have said of Alchemy, that it is for the making of gold and silver. For me such is not the aim, but to consider only what virtue and power may lie in medicines.”

Paracelsus means equal to or greater than Celsus (Celsus being the 1st century Roman medical encyclopedist.)

The real name of this wizard was Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim (yes its a mouthful).

Paracelsus pioneered the idea of small chemicals to treat illness which was the basis for our modern day pharmacology

He is also recognized as giving Zinc its name, which is really important if you can imagine a world without zinc! (see video below)

4. Trithemius – 1462 1516

Trithemius’ most famous work is the Book Steganographia.

The book appears to be about magic at first glance, however scientists now belive the book was actually about cryptography. Now, Trithemius was accused of dealing with the occult. It was probably the view of those who couldn’t read the secret messages, that if someone is hiding something, it must be evil magic (actually all magic was evil back then)

Steganographia was the first book on secret codes.

5. Nicolas Flamel 1330-1417

According to some, Flamel was the greatist european alchemist of his time.

This posthumous reputation is mostly due to his reputed work on “the philosopher’s stone.” (no he didn’t write the Harry Potter book) Yes, that’s right, Flamel is said to have created the “elixir of life” and developed the ability to turn lead into gold!

Although no formal proof of this wizard’s claims exist, Flamel and his wife were noted for their wealth and philanthropy as have provided many other interpretations on the subject of alchemy.

He has also been referenced by great names like Victor Hugo, and Issac Newton, as well as pop culture references like Indiana Jones and Harry Potter.

However something most of you haven’t thought of is sewing your pet’s head onto another animals body while its still alive.

Who the hell would be crazy enough to do this you ask?

Vladimir Demikhov, that’s who.

Vladimir Demikhov was a Mad Soviet Scientist and organ transplant pioneer. Known for sewing on extra heads to dogs and monkeys, Demikhov may be the first real mad scientist to follow in the footsteps of Mary Shelly’s Dr. Frankenstein.

His masterpiece is probably a puppy’s head grafted onto the neck of a full grown German Shepherd. The puppy head would lap at milk and drool in down the side of its mouth. Unfortunately, both animals died shortly after the experiment.

Of course this was during the cold war, and the Americans refused to be behind the Soviets in any technology, even multiple headed dogs. This led the American scientist Dr Robert White to transplant the brain of one dog into the neck of another dog. The question then became, “is this dog brain conscious, and if so, what type of doggy hell is it in?”

Dr White couldn’t answer this and decided to move on to bigger and better experiments like decapitating two monkeys and switching their heads.

Kind of makes you want to skip your yearly check up doesn’t it?

2. Shiro Ishii:

(No, were not getting any funnier just yet)

"I wasn't very funny"

Other than being known for the vivisection of living people (sometimes women he and the other doctors recently impregnated) amputating limbs and reattaching them to different parts of the body, freezing and unfreezing of a patients extremities, and purposely infecting patients with venereal diseases via rape, Shiro Ishii was known to be a selfish, pushy and disturbed individual who excelled at his studies.
His victims numbered around 10 000, receiving 600 per year from the kempeitai military police. He referred to his patients as “logs” and his research area as “The Saw Mill”

After Japan’s defeat in WWII, Ishii and his fellow mad scientists known as Unit 731 were granted immunity by the U.S. Government in exchange for the data he collected from torturing his victims.

3. Charles Bien Aime et Le Fol

(Charles the Loved and the Mad)

"I forgot I was King sometimes"

Charles was the King of France from 1380 – 1422 and is known as the once loved king of France who slipped into madness.

He first experienced psychosis in 1392 when his adviser, Olivier de Clisson, was almost murdered. Charles attempted to punish the would be assassin responsible by any means necessary. The person believed to be responsible was Pierre de Craon and was thought to be hiding in Brittany. Charles assembled a small army and set off to catch the assassin.

During the march, a barefoot leper sprung from the woods yelling at the King that he had been betrayed and continued behind the small army repeating his cries. Sometime later, a sun stroked page would drop his lance against the shield of another causing a very loud clanging sound. Charles then drew his sword yelling: “Forward against the Traitors!” and began fighting his own soldiers and killing a knight known as “The Bastard of Polignac.”

He was known to forget the names of his family members, as well as his own name. He also believed at one point his name was George who’s family crest was a stabbed lion. In another incident he forgot he was King entirely.

None of which was his craziest delusion…..

"They Called Me Mr. Glass" - Samuel L Jackson

His craziest of all delusions was the condition we now know as “Glass Delusion.” Here Charles believed that his body was made of glass and very breakable. This caused him to fear movement and completely forgo any personal hygiene regiment like bathing. At one point he became so filthy that his body became completely infested with lice.

At one point to combat this he attempted various procedure to protect his fragile body including custom made clothes that included iron bars sewn into them.

Take that Tony Stark.

comic photo thanks to wikipedia

4. Saparmurat “Turkmenbashi” Niyazov ,

(The Megalomaniac)

"My Name is Ozymandias, King of Kings, Look down on my works ye mighty, and Despair!"

After changing his name to “Turkmenbashi” meaning leader of all ethnic Turks, Niyazov then proceeded to declare himself “President for life”

He then went on a narcissistic reforming rampage renaming practically everything under his authority that didn’t already pay him homage.

His list of reforms include:

He ordered every bottle of vodka to have a picture of his face on it, as well as every clock and watch in the country

He ordered TV Stations to use his face as a logo

He changed the name of the capital city airport to Turkmenbashi

He replaced the port city Krasnovodsk with the name Turkmenbashi

After a 670 lbs Meteorite hit the country, he declared it named Turkmenbashi

He changed the names of street and schools to Turkmenbashi

He changed the national anthem to reference his name in the chorus.

He banned dogs from the capital because they smelled funny

He banned gold teeth and encouraged people to gnaw on bones like dogs because dogs teeth didn’t fall out as easy.

He banned smoking after he was forced to quit due to health problems

He banned reporters from using make up.

He renamed the month of January Turkmenbashi

He renamed the month of September “Ruhnama” in honor of the book wrote by Turkmenbashi

He banned Opera and Ballet

He decreed that men should refrain from growing beards

He declared that the average Turkmen doesn’t read books and as such ordered libraries to be closed.

And finally he banned Britney Spears

(okay he actually banned lip-syncing, but same idea)

Oh yeah, and he also commissioned the construction of an Ice palace with an arctic type zoo complete with penguins and other animals………in the middle of the hottest dessert in Asia.

5. Howard Hughes (The Aviator)

The Aviator

This Aviator tycoon who had a paranoid obsession with germs and cleanliness may have had a little more crazy to him than your average ocd.

His quirkyness has been referenced in comedy for years including a famous episode of the Simpsons where Mr Burns plays a parody of the eccentric tycoon and orders his assistant at gun point to get into a miniature wooden plane nicknamed “The Spruce Moose.” (The Spruce Goose was a derisory nickname of Hughes plane the H4 Hercules) See the video link below.

Hughes’ antics included:

An obsession with the size of peas (he used a special fork to separate them)

He wrote an extremely detailed memorandum about how to prevent actresses Jane Russell’s blouse from “Bunching Up” on the set.

He locked himself in his screen room where he sat naked on a chair watching movies for 4 months, eating only chocolate bars and milk and relieving himself in the empty milk bottles. During this time he also surrounded himself with Kleenex boxes and rearranged them continuously.

He later moved into a bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel where he would sit naked watching movies with a pink napkin over his genitals. Somehow he spent 11 million dollars in that hotel that year.

He became obsessed with his home state of Texas and began purchasing all the restaurant chains and 4 star hotels that had been founded their (some which were long out of business)

He became obsessed with the film “Ice Station Zebra” and had it running on a continuous loop and was said to have watched it 150 times.

Near the end of his life he surrounded himself with Mormons, not believing anyone else to be trustworthy

Back somewhere in ancient Greece, a young philosopher by the name of Plato told a story about an idealistic city named Atlantis. Plato said that Atlantis was a “lost civilization” that fell beneath the sea.

Sea explorers have been searching for the lost city ever since, but did Plato send them on a wild goose chase? Did the City of Atlantis ever really exist?

At Daft Gadgets we’ve researched through the evidence of over 100 different crackpots and scientists to bring you the 6 most likely places the underwater city may be found.

1. Bimini Road

In 1938 a psychic by the name of Edgar Cayce used his imaginary powers to determine that Atlantis may be lost somewhere near Bermuda.

In 1968, it looked like there may be some truth to the clairvoyant’s claims when divers came across a mysterious line of stones, now known as the Bimini Road.

Sometimes referred to as the Bimini Wall, Bimini Road is an underwater rock formation near the Bahamas. Some people believe that the Bimini Road was a dry dock where ships could float in and then drained for repairs. Others believe is may hold the key to the lost city of Atlantis.

2. The Azores

As an archipelago in the mid Atlantic, some have postulated that the Azores are more than just beaches where North American tourists can see topless women. The Azores could actually be the remnants of a lost continent from as far back as the age of Pangea.

These beautiful islands of the Portuguese are actually the tips of a chain of underwater mountains. This may be partially attributed to Ignatius Donnelly’s book titled: “Atlantis, the Antediluvian world.”

Evidence has been shown to suggest that even though this area has been an undersea plateau for millions of years, some of these islands have actually risen over 250 meters above sea level.

This tells scientists that the sinking and rising of Atlantis may be a fully natural phenomenon.

3. Spartel Island

Back when humans were fighting the great woolly mammoth (Not to be confused with the great wooly bully by Sam Sham) there was a bunch of ice around the earth that would one day melt bringing an end to what we now call “The ice Age.”

When this happened, it drowned places like Spartel Island.

According to Dr. Jacques Collina Girard in an issue of “Comtes Rendus de l’academie des Sciences,” sea level around Atlantis may have been rising about 4 meters every 100 years during a time called “Meltwater Pulse 1A” This combined with a an earthquake proposed by Marc Andre Guscher may have led to giant tsunamis sweeping away the now lost city.

4. Andalusia

According to German doctor Rainer Kuhne, “fiction imitates fact”

The “lost” city of Tartessos, which disappeared in the 6th century BC, was once part of Andalusia, a region in modern day southern Spain. The Tartessians were traders well known to the Ancient Greeks and as such would have been known to Plato.

Satellite pictures of marshes in the area reveal traces of the Great Circular Walls of Atlantis. As well, the area looks to have been flooded in around 800-500 BCE, which is around the time a lot of researchers feel the city was lost.

Could the lost city of Andalusia be a real city for which a fictional city of Atlantis was based? Or could it be that Tartessians conquered the Alatians? Or did the Tartessians merely set up shop in the same place as the ruined city only to suffer the same fate?

Only time will Tell.

5. Thera

In 1960 Angelos Galanopoulos hypothesized that Thera was actually the site of the capital of Atlantis.
Geologists know that the island of Thera experienced an apocalyptic style eruption in 1600 BCE, practically destroying the island. This may have caused a tidal wave to engulf the entire Minoan civilization on Crete and possibly inspired the Altantis legend.

The reasoning behind the Thera/Alatian speculation include:

The Minoans possessed advanced engineering knowledge and technology, including earthquake resistant wood and masonry walls. Yes they probably should have built volcano resistance walls instead, but we said they were “advanced” not “geniuses”

Plato didn’t speak of a volcanic eruption, but did speak of an earthquake and a flood. This may also prove that the Alatians were time travelers who accidentally went back in time to save their ancestors from an earthquake instead of a volcanic eruption after reading Plato’s erroneous analysis.

Similar Rock quarries are found on Santorini to what Plato spoke.

Atlantis was described as having a circular style similar to the scientifically reconstructed shape of Thera before it was blown to smithereens. Of course, its not a jigsaw puzzle, so they could be piecing it together any way they want.

6. Cyprus

American explorer and architect Robert Sarmast created a detailed 3D computer map of the Mediterranean sea floor within the Cyprus Basin. He believes that images from his sonar data show man made structures.

The findings of copper and mini elephants (Cyprus Dwarf Elephants) along with the festival name “Kataklysmos” all support his theory that the lost city lies beneath.

Unlike most scientists, when asked how Atlantis was lost he points to the bible citing Noah’s Flood. However, if it was caused by Noah’s Flood, why didn’t Noah save any of these mini elephants? His instructions were two of each animal and quite frankly it seems like it would be a heck of a lot easier to float and feed two 500lbs mini elephants over their modern day 10 tonne Elephantidae relatives.

Either way, the Atlantis city is unlikely to be found until someone dons a killer skuba suit that can take a diver below to the deepest depths of the ocean, or Aquaman returns from his vacation.

6. Raining Frogs and Animals

You may have heard the old saying “Its raining cats and dogs” and thought to yourself “Where the heck did this saying come from?”
Or maybe you haven’t. Either way, we at Daft Gadgets have sought out the answer for you.

Although there has never been a report of cats and dogs falling from the sky, there have been quite a few real reports of raining animals from across the globe.

Some historical examples of raining animals include:

in 1873 Kansas City, Mo experienced a shower of frogs.

in 1968 Acapulco Maggots fell from the sky

in 1996 Tasmania rained jellyfish. A popular raining animal, Jellyfish fell from the sky in Bath, England, in 1894

So how does this happen? What causes the weather to start raining animals?

Raining animals is a phenomenon that scientist can’t actually explain. It happens so rarely that there is not enough concrete data for anyone to analyze effectively, although many have theorized a range of possible causes.

The French physicist André-Marie Ampère was one of the first scientists to actually believe that raining animals was more than just some whopper of a tale from a group of local drunkards.

Ampère suggested that at times frogs and toads travel in very large numbers, and are small enough that a violent wind could swoop them up from the ground carrying them great distances.

Newer scientific theories favor the phenomenon of tornadic waterspouts. The Tornadic Waterspouts are powerful enough to suck up small animals and debris, sending them soaring into the air.

Scientists believe that some of these tornadoes can suck up a entire pond and all its aquatic inhabitants, and when the tornado lets the water fall, the marine life falls with it, creating the illusion of raining animals.

Although a very convincing theory, it does not explain how all the animals involved in each individual incident would be from only one species, and not a group of similarly-sized animals from a single area.

5. Fire Devils

What is a Fire Devil

A “Fire Devil” is the colloquial name for a fire whirl. Its comprised of hot air shooting up as it flames spins into the cooler air above, pulling up terrifying ropes of fire that whirl furiously into the sky.

So its kind of like Ghost Rider’s Chain

One of the most devastating fire devils occurred in Japan in 1923 during the Great Kanto Earthquake. The Earthquake ignited a gigantic fire devil that killed 38,000 people in fifteen minutes.

Most of the larger fire devils are spawned from wildfires. They are usually 10-50 meters tall but can be up to a Kilometer in height and contain winds over 160 km/h, uprooting trees in their fire tornado havoc.

Where can I see a Fire Devil?

You can see some pretty impressive fire devils at the annual Burning Man Festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. On Saturday night you get the burning man, on Sunday you get the burning temple.

4. Ball Lightning

What is Ball Lightning?

Although reported from many independent sources, ball lightning is a phenomenon that science still knows very little about.

Ball lightning is thought to be any type of electrically charged ball ranging from the size of a pea to a few meters in diameter. It is said that after ball lightning explodes, it lets out a sulphur like smell, similar to the Lightning Ball like benefactors of the science fiction novel “Orbis” by Scott Mackay.
However, modern day ball lightning has yet to attempt to enslave humanity.

Where Can Ball Lightning be Seen?

Once form of ball lightning occurs commonly in the valley of Hessdalen, Norway, and has been reported since the early 1940s. It is suggested that these “light balls” or “Hessdalen Lights” are the product of alpha particles creating the ionization of dust and air during radon decay in the atmosphere.

Apparently over 5% of Americans have witnessed ball lightning when they were sober. (Or at least so they claim)

3. St Elmo’s Fire

You may have heard the term “St Elmos Fire” and pictured in your mind something like this:

Or perhaps you envisioned a tickle me Elmo doll burning in heaven. Either way, you would be wrong. The St Elmos Fire we are referring to looks more like pink balls of fiery light that dance on the masts of ships.

What causes St Elmos Fire?

Its thought to be caused by the buildup of static electricity, which in turn then heats up the air and turns it to a plasma. The Nitrogen and Oxygen in the Earths atmosphere causes St. Elmos’s fire to fluoresce with indigo colored light.

At least, that’s the going theory.

2. Bloody Snow

Back in 1818 ships encountered ice cliffs in the arctic that seemed to be streaming with blood. Back then, something like that might lead to a little superstition paranoia and possibly a human sacrifice.

Today however, bloody snow usually just make people think someone was recently murdered, and they go about their business as usual.

What is Bloody Snow?

Bloody snow is actually snow mixed with red algae named Chlamydomonas Nivalis. For some reason it is said to have a faint scent of fresh watermelons.

Where can I see Bloody Snow?

Bloody snow is common in the summertime in alpine and coastal polar regions worldwide. This includes the Sierra Nevada of California in the USA.

1. Red Sprites

Above a Thundercloud you can see giant red lightning pillars called sprites, huge pancakes of lighting named elves, and beams that shoot up from the top of the cloud known as blue jets.

Sprites are triggered by the discharges of positive lightning between an underlying thundercloud and the ground. They occur high above a thunderstorm cloud and form in many cool shapes.

Sprites get their name from the mischievous air spirit named “Puck” in Shakespear’s “A Midsummer Nights Dream”

#1. Tightlacing

Tired of Diets that don’t work? Now you can get real thin real fast by moving around your organs!

What is Tightlacing?

Tightlacing is the practice of wearing tightly laced garments to make your body appear more curvy.

Is it dangerous?

No this isn’t anything dangerous like some sort of plastic surgery, tightlacing or “corsetry is the act of squeezing your waist together over long periods of time so that your body will readjust your spleen in way that takes up much less space in your abdomen.

Now there are some side effects. For example, your lung capacity will diminish and cause you to breath intercostally (from the upper part of the lung), but this also makes for bigger boobs, so again, its a trade off.

As an added bonus, the tight compression on your stomach prevents you from over eating, so you’ll lose weight too!

Does it Hurt?

Well, they say beauty is painful, but we like to think of a corset as being a nice big hug for your body. And who doesn’t like to get hugged?

#2. Cranial Binding

Ever wonder if you were actually spawned by aliens?

At Daft Gadgets we’re pretty sure that in some galaxies a big pointy coned head must be attractive. At least this is the only reason we can come up with to describe the insane head flattening practices of the Ancient Myans.

What is Cranial Binding?

Its the method of apply long term force and pressure on someone’s skull in order to change its shape without breaking it. It was believed that someone with an “egg head” was somehow smarter or more spiritually enlightened than your every day common round head.

Are these techniques dangerous?

Possibly to an Adult because an adult’s skull is a fusion of 22 different bones into a single skull. Luckily, this procedure was performed on babies whose skulls were comprised of 44 unfused and mmalleable boney elements.

Did these Head Flattening techniques Hurt?

Uh….well you would have to ask the babies who had their heads put in vices to find out, and as we know very well, babies can’t talk. This thereby proves that there is no proof that flattening heads causes pain when using the advanced alien ancient Mayan technology seen below.

#3. Tooth Sharpening

Photo compliments of star trek memory alpha .org

More than just for Klingons and Ferrengi, tooth sharpening can be a great way to pick up ladies if you’re a guy, however females with sharpen teeth have been known to scare males away in some species.

What is Tooth Sharpening?

Tooth sharpening is the process of filing down teeth until they are nice and pointy. Kind of like a shark or dinosaur would have.

In the Bali culture, straight teeth were thought to represent anger and jealousy.

As you can tell this guy below doesn’t look angry at all!

Does it hurt.

We’re not sure, but there is something about the thought of grinding teeth that gives us that “nails on a chalkboard” feeling.

Are these techniques dangerous?

Well maybe, but they are probably still less dangerous than the ancient Chinese Ta Ya Kih Lau tradition of knocking out a brides teeth on their wedding day (it was thought that this would prevent damage to the husbands family)

#4. Neck Rings

First there was the Mamenchisaurus then there was the Giraffe, and then the uhhh Padaung?

What the hell are these Neck Ringed Padauangs ?

Padaungs (not to be confused with the Jedi Students named “Padawans”) are also known as Kayan Lahwi. Ironically the Borneo Kayan were once fierce warriors and “Head Hunters,” so were not really sure why the Burma Kayan would make their heads easier to cut off?

Does it hurt?

Probably. Nick rings are essentially an ever growing coil that wraps around your neck more and more as you grow and become deformed. Kind of like a boa constrictor that never loosens its grip on your neck, but never squeezes tight enough to kill you.

Are they dangerous.

There is no proven medical concern at this time, but do we really need some scientist to tell us that elongating the appearance of our necks is unsafe?

#5. Sclera Tattooing

Compliments of Random Places Photostream on flickr

Hey, you know how to make yourself look really cool? Stick an ink filled needle in your eye.

What is it?

Unlike Corneal Tattooing that may be used for medical reconstruction of your eyes, scelra tattooing is a newer more extreme process of body modification. Its basically tattooing the whites of your eyes.

Does it hurt?

If you believe the experts, no, it doesn’t hurt. Apparently there are no nerve endings on the surface of your eyes.

Is it Dangerous?

The after effects include minor pain, bruising, and discomfort as well as some blistering, but if done incorrectly sclera tattooing could lead to blindness.

1.Ambush bugs

Not to be confused with the fictional character from DC comics seen below, ambush bugs stem from nature’s group of assassin bugs. Known as masters of camouflage, ambush bugs blend in to their surroundings so well, its as if they attack out of thin air.

Armed with mantis like forelegs, ambush bugs routinely capture prey ten or more times their own size.

Ambush Bug from Action Comics

2. The Scops Owl

Trust us, its in there if you look close enough.

Scops owls hunt from the darkened decrepit hallows of old trees. Their favorite meals are insects, reptiles, small mammals (like bats or mice) and other small birds.

The owls will also eat earthworms, frogs and aquatic invertebrates

3.Dead Leaf Butterfly

Although no match for a human with a rake, the dead leaf butterfly can easily fool your typical bird brained….uh….bird.

4. Three Toed Sloths

The sloth’s color and its sluggish habits make it hard to spot. Generally it hangs quietly from trees resembling a bundle of leaves.

Their huge claws are used more for sleeping in trees than any type of weapon (they sleep 15-18 hours per day)

On a Daft Note, female sloth mating calls are said to sound like a human woman screaming “Ay Ay!”

5.Fennec fox

The sandy coat of the Fennec Fox helps it hide from its arch nemesis “The Eagle Owl” while also reflecting the heat from the harsh Sahara desert sun.

(Yes an eagle owl can swoop down and steal your Chihuahua as well.)

6.Hooded Grasshopper

This is a Hooded Grasshopper is found in India, although it is rarely seen due to its excellent camouflage.

8. Peppered Moths

9. Tawny Frogmouth

Unlike owls, most frogmouths don’t usually eat small mammals (Although they do make exceptions now and again for the occasional after dinner amphibian.)

They do hide in much the same way as the scops owl and are also much harder to spot when their eyes are shut.

Now you know for sure that its not the Government, CIA, or Aliens who are watching you, but Mother Nature’s Army. If you want to fight back, Daft Gadgets only has one weapon certified to be used on animals, and that’s the Airzooka!

#1 Fear of Loathing in Las Vegas: A savage journey to the Heart of the American Dream.

Raoul Duke:“We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half-full of cocaine and a whole galaxy of multicolored uppers, downers, screamers laughers….Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls [….] But the only thing that worried me was the ether. There is nothing in this world more helpless and irresponsible than a man in the depths of an ether binge, and I knew we’d get into that rotten stuff pretty soon. …. “

Who is the nutcase who made this thing?

Hunter S Thompson. Its loosely based on a trip he took

Who’s in it?

Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro and Tobey Maguire

What’s it about?

The story follows , Raoul Duke, and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo, as they descend on Las Vegas to chase the American Dream through a drug-induced haze.

The novel lacks a clear narrative and frequently delves into the surreal, never quite distinguishing between what is real and what is only imagined by the characters.

The basic synopsis revolves around journalist Raoul Duke and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo, as they arrive in 1970s Las Vegas to report on the Mint 400 motorcycle race.

Hunter S Thompson coined the phrase “gonzo journalism” which was essentially getting stoned out of your mind and recording things for the story that the hallucinating journalist finds amusing

During the film, we see the characters move through a series of bizarre hallucinogenic trips, during which they destroy hotel rooms, wreck cars, attack each other and have visions of crazy talking animals, all the while reflecting on the city’s culture of insanity.

Fear of loathing is definitely a trip for your head

A great quote from Fear of Loating in Las Vegas:

“There he goes. One of God’s own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die.“

Requiem for a dream

Who’s the nut case who wrote this thing?

Darren Aronofsky

Although the film was put together by Darren Aronosfsky, it is based on a novel by Hubert Selby Jr.

What’s Requiem for a Dream About?

This movie takes the viewer straight into the world of addiction as the main characters all spiral down into a personal hell. Each character gives up all pride, scruples, and love for each other in order to feed the addiction monsters within.

Depending on your mindset at the time, you may find certain scenes either amusing or very disturbing.

If Addiction and heavy imagery are not your thing, you can always try Aronofsky’s movie “Pi” which is based upon a genius’s path to find god and in turn, insanity.

Best line from Requiem for a Dream:

Sara Goldfarb: “How come you know more about medicine than a doctor?”Harry Goldfarb:“Believe me, Ma: I know. “

The Trip

Believe it or not, people used to do drugs back in the 60s

Who is the Nutcase who wrote this thing?

The Trip is a cult film written by Jack Nicholson.

What’s “The Trip” all about?

Its about a man who takes his first Dose of LSD to get over the heartbreak of his cheating wife. Although he has a guide in the beginning to help prevent him from doing anything too stupid, he later runs away in a panic, and finds himself wandering the Sunset Strip of California nightclubs.

Best Quote from the Movie:”Max: I wish there was some hip way of telling you this, baby, but, ah… you’re one with and part of an ever-expanding, loving, joyful, glorious, and harmonious universe.“

Naked Lunch

Who is the nutcase who wrote this thing?

David Cronenberg

William S. Burroughs

Although David Cronenberg has an equally warped mind, the original book titled “Naked Lunch” was written by William S. Burrows.

What’s “Naked Lunch” All About?

William Lee (The main character is played by Robocop, a.k.a Peter Weller. )

He becomes convinced that his typewriter is working for a giant bug that is trying to get him to kill his wife because she is part of a spy organization named “interzone incorporated.”

Refusing to believe the lies of some mutant bug, lee returns home and accidentally shoots his wife in the head while performing a William Tell Routine. Realizing he has accidentally accomplished his mission, Robocop (lee) discovers that there is a conspiracy at interzone with a narcotic harvesting operation producing a new drug called “Black Meat” that is derived from the guts of giant centipedes and suddenly, everything his typewriter told him makes perfect sense.

At Daft Gadgets, we believe that a head trip may be the only vacation some of us can afford, so please feel free to share any other films that made your head nearly explode.

Sometimes people die and come back to life. Sometimes they are zombies, sometimes they are reanimated by a t virus, and sometimes they were never dead at all.

Although there are a few publicity stunts noted below, we at Daft Gadgets feel that one person in particular deserves a more in depth look into their death and resurrection.

Hiroo Onoda

"Never Surrender!"

Some of you may remember that old Gilligan’s Island rerun where the crazed Japanese soldier in the submarine takes Gilligan and his island pals hostage, believing that World War II was not over.

What you may not know, is that this crazy sitcom skit wasn’t that far off from the truth.

Officially Declared Dead and Forgotten in 1959, Lieutenant Hiro Onoda (Not to be confused with Hiro “Nakamura”) survived the harsh conditions of the Philippines jungle for over 2 decades.

No, he wasn’t a zombie, he was just an MIA soldier who happened to be too far away to see the fat man drop on Hiroshima.

No, not this Hiro/Hero

His dedication to the cause of Japan allowed him to keep high morale, while his military training ensured his survival in the jungle.

Onoda, was also not alone. During part of his time in Hades he had three other soldiers with him and was doing quite well strategically capturing Filipinos since most of them were unaware that WWII was still going on.

Although there were numerous attempts to inform Onoda that the war was over (via leaflet) Onoda believed these to be “Propaganda Tricks” and ignored them. Nobody knew what to do about him since he seemed to just randomly show up from the Jungle and disappear, he was after all trained as an Intelligence officer by the commando class “Futamata”.At first, some people thought he was a myth that some kids probably made up, but a shootout with local police in 1972 made some people begin to believe otherwise.

It would take a Japanese college dropout by the name of Norio Suzuki to begin a life quest to find 3 things:

Lieutenant Onoda,

A Panda bear, and

The Abominable Snowman or “Yeti,”

in that exact order.

On February 20th 1974, Onoda and Suzuki met face to face in the Jungle and became friends. He told Onoda about the war but Onoda refused to give up until he received orders from a superior officer.

Suzuki returned to Japan with pictures of himself and Onoda as proof (in case they labeled him a one of those bigfoot crackpots) and the Japanese government in turn, located an old book seller by the name of Taniguchi, previously known as Major Taniguchi and Onoda’s commanding officer.

Major Taniguchi took his final mission and flew to Lubang on March 9th 1974 and ordered Onoda to surrender.

29 years after the end of WWII, Onoda emerged from the jungle and returned home to Japan. There he was welcomed as a hero and would later release his autobiography titled: “No Surrender: My Thirty Year War”

Other people who have been reported dead only to be alive include names like:

Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper Live Wacken

In the early 70s, there was a satirical obituary and concert review by Melody Maker magazine. Fans took it as literally as the Orson Wells alien hoax and Mr Cooper was forced to make a public statement that say he was:

“Alive, and drunk as usual”

Queen Elizabeth II

On May 17th 2010 a facebook member named Queen Elizabeth died, leading Danny Kelly BBC Host to play “God Save the Queen” and announce the Queen’s official death. Although meant as a joke, it didn’t go off well with Mr Kelly’s producer.

Apparently the BBC doesn’t endorse that type of sense of humor.

Alfred Nobel

in 1888 Alfred read his obituary which labeled him the “Merchant of Death” The obit was actually a mix up for his brother, but it was enough to cause Alfred to change his will and create what we now know as “The Nobel Prize”

Luca Barbareschi

You may remember Luca Barbareschi from the film: “The International” as Umberto Calvini, an arms manufacturer who is an Italian Prime Ministerial candidate.

Or Maybe you don’t, but perhaps you will find the story of his death 28 years earlier a bit more memorable.

Luca was one of four actors believed to have been murdered during the making of the horror film,” Cannibal Holocaust” (not to be confused with the film Cannibal Hectare that doesn’t actually exist)

The film was so life like for its time, the Italian police arrested the film’s director Ruggero Deodato for murder, and didn’t release him for an entire year when Luca and the other actors appeared on television stating the murders weren’t a snuff film but a movie. (They didn’t come out to the press earlier because people believing the murders were real gave them free publicity)

Mr. Barbareschi later transformed his fame into a political career, becoming a member of the Italian Parliament.